21 | Mary Cain, Professional Runner, Mental Health Advocate, & NYC Community Manager at Tracksmith
05/27/20 • 66 min
My guest today is professional distance runner Mary Cain. She’s currently 24 and living in New York. For those of you not familiar with her story already, we’ll take you back for a moment to 2013 when Mary was a 17 year old track & field phenom. She was breaking records left and right and signed with what was then considered the best track team in the world -- the Nike Oregon Project. To the surprise of many, Mary’s performances actually began to decline after training with the Oregon project full-time. She eventually left the team, and last November Mary came forward with her story of training with Nike in what we now know to be an abusive, destructive training environment, characterized with the coach’s obsession with lowering her bodyweight to improve performance.
To quote the New York Times article on her story from last fall, “Cain found herself choosing between training with the best team in the world, or potentially developing osteoporosis or even infertility. She lost her period for three years and broke five bones. She went from being a once-in-a-generation Olympic hopeful to having suicidal thoughts.” I’m sure this is never an easy experience for her to discuss, so I really appreciated her openness and her positivity. It’s so important for the sport to have positive voices like Mary’s, and we shouldn’t take those for granted.
Recently, Mary signed on with the Boston-based running brand, Tracksmith, not only as a sponsored runner, but as an employee. I was excited to ask her about this new form of brand athlete relationship, and of course about what her life has been like since coming out with her story. As a fan of the sport and as a fan of Mary’s, this was really a privilege for me.
Find Mary:
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My guest today is professional distance runner Mary Cain. She’s currently 24 and living in New York. For those of you not familiar with her story already, we’ll take you back for a moment to 2013 when Mary was a 17 year old track & field phenom. She was breaking records left and right and signed with what was then considered the best track team in the world -- the Nike Oregon Project. To the surprise of many, Mary’s performances actually began to decline after training with the Oregon project full-time. She eventually left the team, and last November Mary came forward with her story of training with Nike in what we now know to be an abusive, destructive training environment, characterized with the coach’s obsession with lowering her bodyweight to improve performance.
To quote the New York Times article on her story from last fall, “Cain found herself choosing between training with the best team in the world, or potentially developing osteoporosis or even infertility. She lost her period for three years and broke five bones. She went from being a once-in-a-generation Olympic hopeful to having suicidal thoughts.” I’m sure this is never an easy experience for her to discuss, so I really appreciated her openness and her positivity. It’s so important for the sport to have positive voices like Mary’s, and we shouldn’t take those for granted.
Recently, Mary signed on with the Boston-based running brand, Tracksmith, not only as a sponsored runner, but as an employee. I was excited to ask her about this new form of brand athlete relationship, and of course about what her life has been like since coming out with her story. As a fan of the sport and as a fan of Mary’s, this was really a privilege for me.
Find Mary:
Find Momentous:
Previous Episode
20 | Darren Rovell, Sports Business Reporter & Senior Executive Producer for The Action Network
I’m very excited to introduce my guest today as sports business analyst, Darren Rovell. Darren currently reports for The Action Network, a sports betting start-up based in Los Vegas, and previously he reported for ESPN for more than 12 years. He’s widely considered one of the most influential journalists in sports. Being the sports and business nerd that I am, Darren is one of my absolute favorite follows on social media. You can check out his twitter and instagram here.
Today I talked with Darren about things like how he’s handling the change in lifestyle, current events in sports, and mental health. Darren is a public advocate for mental health awareness and discussion, both through his own platforms and through his involvement in the #SameHere movement.
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Next Episode
22 | Matt Chorney, Director of Operations at Momentous & Cross Country Coach
My guest today is my good friend and colleague, Matt Chorney. Matt is the Director of Operations at Momentous and is, in fact, the company’s first and longest tenured employee. Matt is also a coach for the Jackson Hole High School track and cross country programs, and a passionate and accomplished distance runner and mountaineer.
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